A thin week this week as we prepare for the holidays—though there are lots of movies showing on TV, and any sparseness of offerings is more than made up for by the American premiere of the penultimate David Tennant adventure (the final outing being a two-parter airing just after Christmas here in the U.S.). Meanwhile we have new episodes this week from:

• Outer Space Astronauts (2 eps),
• Eastwick,
• Dollhouse (2 eps),
• Sanctuary, and
• Doctor Who.

Guest stars this week include the return of Vincent Ventresca on Dollhouse and Jonathan Young as Tesla on Sanctuary.

Synopses below the jump. For details see the listings (regular or alphabetical). Read more...

MOVIES--Opening this week:

• Avatar (2009). James Cameron's years-in-the-making CGI epic is finally here. More details below the jump.
  -- Trailers, clips, and video--updated!

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A tussle involving author Dr. Peter Watts at the U.S./Canada border is creating a stir in the sci-fi community, with Watts saying he was beaten by border guards as he tried to cross back into Canada. Writers and fans are rallying to to the defense of the author/biologist, best known for Starfish (1999) and its sequels and Hugo-award-nominated Blindsight (2006).

In his blog on Dec. 11, Watts's friend Cory Doctorow, the founder of BoingBoing, reported that Watts had been involved in an incident following the selection of his vehicle for inspection at the border crossing in Port Huron, Michigan. According to Watts's account, he got out of the car to "ask what was going on" and, given no answer, asked again. At this point, in the words of Watts's friend and passenger David Nickle, he was assaulted by a "gang of border guards."

Watts claims he was punched in the face, pepper sprayed, kicked, handcuffed, held overnight, and arraigned without access to counsel, after being asked to waive his Miranda rights. Border Patrol officials, on the other hand, told reports that Watts was belligerent and attempted to "choke" one of the guards. Some are saying both sides have exaggerated the incident, but Watts insists he was mistreated. Read more...

Pam, the savvy vampire played by Kristin Bauer on True Blood, has been promoted to a regular in the latest round of casting news for the HBO hit's third season.

Fan favorite Pam acts the cynical right-hand woman of Eric (Alexander Skarsgard), the sheriff of the vampires' Area 5 and owner of Shreveport vamp bar Fangtasia, where Pam is a screener and bouncer.

Though she's guested in 11 episodes so far her storyline has mainly been ancillary to Eric's, so her promotion--along with other hints that Fangtasia will feature strongly in this season--should signal more screen time for this brassy operator. In fact Alan Ball promised a meatier role for Pam in the third season at the San Diego Comic Con.

Whether this involves a lesbian storyline has yet to be confirmed. Ball has said that he could picture Pam as a lesbian. ("I don't know that that's all she is, but she certainly does seem to appreciate the women," he said), and Bauer was open to the possibility: "I wouldn't be surprised," Bauer said in October. "I think she's pansexual." Bauer guessed Pam's sights would be set on Ginger, the Fangtasia waitress played by Tara Buck: "There are so many hot ones, but I'll pick Ginger," she said. "Ginger's hot. Ginger's fun. She's a screamer and she's a blood donor."